Access

Commentary

Nature 457, 27 (1 January 2009) | doi:10.1038/457027a; Published online 31 December 2008

Open Innovation Challenges

Time to turn off the lights

See associated Correspondence: Settele, Nature 457, 379 (January 2009)

Malcolm Smith1

  1. Malcolm Smith is an astronomer at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Casilla 603, La Serena, Chile.
    Email: msmith@ctio.noao.edu

Top

Cities needlessly shine billions of dollars directly into the sky each year and, as a result, a fifth of the world's population cannot see the Milky Way. Malcolm Smith explains why a dark sky has much to offer everyone.

Over the past six decades, professional and amateur astronomers have been pioneering efforts to curb light pollution to protect the viability of their observatories. During the 2009 International Year of Astronomy, particularly through the Dark Skies Awareness project1, astronomers can find allies in a common cause to convince authorities and the public that a dark sky is a valuable resource for everyone.